Bergkönig Geschke did without attacks and other points and stayed in the field after the exhausting days in the high mountains and later had it demolished. With 43 points, the Berliner is still at the top of the mountains classification, the South African Louis Meintjes is four points behind in second place.
So far, Marcel Wüst has been the professional cyclist who, from a German perspective, has worn the mountain jersey most often on the tour. The sprinter from Cologne rode in the jersey for four stages in the Tour 2000. Geschke has a good chance of successfully defending the lead in the standings until the second rest day on Monday. The stages at the weekend lead through the central massif and should suit the profile of the Cofidis professional. The only question is how the forces of the veteran are.
Pedersen crowns breakaway attempt
Pedersen was tireless on the 192.6-kilometer route to Saint-Étienne. The former Danish world champion prevailed in the sprint of a breakaway group ahead of Britain’s Fred Wright and Canadian Hugo Houle. “It’s incredible to finally win the stage. The form is good and it took a lot of attempts. For a rider like me there are few chances on this tour, so I had to take them,” said Pedersen. “For a long time I thought it was a mistake to go into the group. The gap wasn’t big, but the track was difficult enough.” It was already the third Danish stage win on this tour, which started in Copenhagen.
As expected, Jonas Vingegaard had no problems defending his yellow jersey in the overall standings. The Dane is 2:22 minutes ahead of defending champion Tadej Pogacar and 2:26 ahead of Welsh ex-tour winner Geraint Thomas.
After the start in Bourg d’Oisans at the foot of the climb to Alpe d’Huez, numerous riders attempted a breakaway, including German champion Nils Politt. In the end there was a seven-person leading group without a German driver, in which time trial world champion Filippo Ganna was represented. However, there was no agreement among the sprinter teams on the tracking work, so that the escapees made it to the finish line.